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Tuesday, 10 May 2011

Enjoying outdoors

Welcome to the May Carnival of Natural Parenting: Growing in the OutdoorsThis post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have shared how they encourage their children to connect with nature and dig in the dirt. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.
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With the arrival of spring, we have been spending more time outdoors. In the last month, the weather has been incredibly beautiful. It hasn't rained at all, can you believe it? (In case you don't know,I am writing from England!)
In April, we enjoyed the flowers in our garden. My daughter has been waiting for them eagerly. Four year olds are not very patient. After a long winter when we began to see the daffodils in our neighbourhood, I explained to her that the flowers in our garden will blossom very soon.
She had sown the bulbs back in November so she was proud to see them.

On the way to her preschool, there is a tree. When we saw the first signs of spring on its branches, we began to examine them carefully. As the leaves grew, we felt them and enjoyed the softness. A few weeks later, the flowers blossomed. A gorgeous magnolia tree!
We take our children out rain or shine. I believe there is no such thing as bad weather. As long as we put on appropriate clothing, we will be fine.
We like walking in the woods, jumping in the puddles, finding insects, snails and mushrooms, looking at them with a magnifying glass.
There is a beautiful park close to us. It is our second address.We like playing in the playground and then going to the rose garden to have a picnic.There is also a sensory garden where people are encouraged to touch and feel the plants. Great for children!

Who needs lots of toys in the garden? Playing with bark, leaves, sand or water is immensely joyful for my kids. I love to see it in their sparkling eyes. Let them get messy! Let them enjoy without worrying!
I want my children to feel that they are part of the nature. Nature has restorative powers both mentally and physically. It boosts our health, wellness and creativity. It bonds us with other people and the animals surrounding us.

Little Gardener — Rosemary at Rosmarinus Officinalis looks forward to introducing her baby girl to gardening and exploring home grown foods for the first time.

Cultivating Abundance — You can never be poor if you have a garden! Lucy at Dreaming Aloud reflects on what she cultivates in her garden . . . and finds it's a lot more than seeds!

Growing in the Outdoors: Plants and People — Luschka at Diary of a First Child reflects on how she is growing while teaching her daughter to appreciate nature, the origins of food, and the many benefits of eating home-grown.

How Not to Grow — Anna at Wild Parenting discusses why growing vegetables fills her with fear.

Growing in the Outdoors — Lily at Witch Mom Blog talks about how connecting to the natural world is a matter of theology for her family and the ways that they do it.

Unfolding into Nature — At Crunchy-Chewy Mama, Jessica Claire shares her desire to cultivate a reverence for nature through gardening, buying local food, and just looking out the window.

Urban Gardening With Kids — Lauren at Hobo Mama shares her strategies for city gardening with little helpers — without a yard but with a whole lot of enthusiasm.

Mama Doesn't Garden — Laura at Our Messy Messy Life is glad her husband is there to instill the joys of gardening in their children, while all she has to do is sit back and eat homegrown tomato sandwiches.

Garden Day — Melissa at The New Mommy Files is thankful to be part of community of families, some of whom can even garden!

Teaching Garden Ettiquette to the Locusts — Tashmica from Mother Flippin' (guest posting at Natural Parents Network) allows her children to ravage her garden every year in the hopes of teaching them a greater lesson about how to treat the world.

Why I Play with Worms. — Megan of Megadoula, Megamom and Megatired shares why growing a garden and raising her children go hand in hand.